Aerospace & Defense (A&D) in India is a fast-growing industry. Historically, aviation has contributed approximately $72 billion to the country’s GDP.
Admittedly, the industry is being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic – but even if we assume a 25% decline in revenues, there is still a substantial margin for profitability and even more room for market expansion. To combat projected losses from COVID-19, several state governments are already permitting local A&D manufacturers to resume manufacturing activities.
COE (A&D), an initiative by the Karnataka State Government along with Dassault Systemes, has been set up with an objective to strengthen the Aerospace & Defense ecosystem through Innovation and Skilling. It aims to equip India’s startup community with the skills, tools, and launch pad needed to drive innovation in the most relevant aspects of A&D – like using drones for citizen wellbeing during the pandemic.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones is an area that’s yet to be adequately explored in India’s A&D landscape. “[In India,] UAVs have been around for a long time, but largely in the military domain. However, we’re now seeing a spurt in drones for various civil applications like pesticide spraying, aerial photography, package delivery, traffic surveillance, crowd management, etc. This leads to a rise in interest among the private sector, particularly startups,” said C D Balaji, Chairman, COE (A&D).
Consider the case of General Aeronautics, a UAV startup based out of Bengaluru. Last year, General Aeronautics partnered with Dassault Systèmes to leverage the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform to streamline its design and engineering activities. General Aeronautics worked closely with the Dassault Systèmes team and COE A&D to accelerate the market readiness of its product. It was able to implement its solutions at the very right time, when COVID-19 impacted Bengaluru, necessitating large-scale contactless sanitization of the city’s densely populated areas.
General Aeronautics and Bengaluru’s civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike or BBMP worked together to disinfect markets, bus stands, railway stations, and other public places using UAVs.
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